The ALOST Podcast, X: Capitol Gains

If the all-around consistent play of Anthony Rendon (l.) and power-hitting stroke of Ian Desmond continue, the Nationals might not feel the loss of Ryan Zimmerman to injury too much down the stretch. (Angela Halsted/PuzzleGirl Photography)

The calendar switching over to August signals at least two things in the sports world: the Major League Baseball division races intensifying even more and the college football season being upon us very shortly.

Our latest edition of The A Lot of Sports Talk Podcast – a historic 10th episode for us – concentrates on both of those topics, particularly one Major League team that’s hitting its stride as we speak. With the Washington Nationals winning six out of of nine out of the All-Star Break and opening up a small cushion in the National League East on the Atlanta Braves, we spoke with D.C. area legal secretary and huge Washington Nationals fan Angela Olson Halsted to get her insight on what’s been going right with the Nationals in the last couple of weeks. Along with that, Halsted explains why she’s in the minority as to the impact of the recent injury to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the team, what the Nationals should do – if anything – at the trade deadline, and what in-the-stadium rituals she and a friend have while going to a game at Nationals Park that assure the home team will come away victorious that night. Seriously.

The second interview is an insightful one with former Ohio University and Wake Forest head coach, Jim Grobe, the winningest coach in Demon Deacons football history (77 wins). Grobe, who resigned from his coaching duties at Wake Forest at the end of the 2013 season, steps into his new job this fall as a game analyst on Fox Sports South and a studio analyst on the new college football show ACC Gridiron Live, which debuts on Aug. 27. Along with previewing the 2013 season in the ACC, our conversation talked about how his 2006 Demon Deacons team made a magical run to an ACC Championship and the Orange Bowl, how his coaching philosophy has evolved to match the changing offenses in the college game, and some of the negative impact on college teams that has been caused by some of the mentality of today’s college football athletes – including the negative impact it caused some of his teams in Winston-Salem, in his opinion.

Please enjoy the podcast, and leave us any and all comments that you have. Click here to go to the A Lot of Sports Talk podcast page on iTunes, and from there, you can download this show as well as subscribe to our podcast page and receive new episodes on your device the second it is posted. You can also open iTunes, and in the Podcasts section, type in “A Lot of Sports Talk” in the search box to find our shows.

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ABOUT A LOT OF SPORTS TALK

Read about your favorite sports - and cover them in person as well! Long-time ESPN Magazine reporter Adesina O. Koiki, along with various contributors, covers any and all sports from coast to coast, delivering interviews you want to hear with athletes, coaches and journalists. Join us!